Warsaw, Poland September 14 th, WORKING SESSION 7: Tolerance and non-discrimination

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1 Intervention at the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM) 2017 Warsaw, Poland September 14 th, 2017 WORKING SESSION 7: Tolerance and non-discrimination The Annotated Agenda laudably refers to the Copenhagen Document of 1990, which recognize[d] that pluralistic democracy and the rule of law are essential for ensuring respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms. 1 In that Document, the Participating Countries likewise welcome[d] the commitment expressed by all participating States to the ideals of democracy and political pluralism as well as their common determination to build democratic societies based on free elections and the rule of law. 2 However, the Annotated Agenda regrettably characterized the Copenhagen Document as a framework for combatting racism, xenophobia and discrimination and the promotion of tolerance. 3 This is a mischaracterization. First, the Copenhagen Document does not mention the word racism a single time. 4 Second, the Copenhagen Document makes a single allusion to racial and ethnic hatred and mentions xenophobia only once, when it states that the participating States clearly and unequivocally condemn totalitarianism, racial and ethnic hatred, anti-semitism, xenophobia and discrimination against anyone as well as persecution on religious and ideological grounds. 5 Yet on that basis, the Participating Countries risk defending exactly those evils. For instance, Totalitarianism today includes three essential frameworks: National Socialism, a.k.a. Nazism or fascism on the Right; Communism, a.k.a. non-democratic socialism on the Left, and Islamic law, a.k.a. Sharia. 1 DOCUMENT OF THE COPENHAGEN MEETING OF THE CONFERENCE ON THE HUMAN DIMENSION OF THE CSCE (Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe), 5 to 29 June 1990, p accessed 2 Ibid. 3 Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM), September 2017, Warsaw Poland, Annotated Agenda, August 31, 2017, accessed 4 COPENHAGEN DOCUMENT, accessed 5 COPENHAGEN DOCUMENT, 1990, accessed

2 The reality is that Sharia, like Nazism, includes Totalitarianism, anti-semitism and persecution on religious grounds, as indicated below. First, Sharia is totalitarian, according to Curtis (2012), citing inter alia former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who wrote in The Guardian on February 12, 2002 that, "like Bolshevism in the past, it is an armed doctrine. It is an aggressive ideology promoted by fanatical, well-armed devotees." 6 Not only Sharia s critics but also its advocates imply it is totalitarian, however. According to Curtis: Maudidi argued that Islamic states must be established based on pure Islam, and that Islam is a militant ideology and program which seeks to alter the social order of the whole world and rebuild it in conformity with its own Islamic tenets and ideals. Islamic Jihad would necessarily destroy non-islamic systems and would bring about a universal revolution. ; and Sayyid Qutb called for a more aggressive attempt -- not simply to defend the homeland of Islam, but to carry the movement of Islam throughout the world to the whole of mankind.non- Muslims could be tolerated but apostates could not: the penalty is death. 7 Second, Sharia s anti-semitism has been exhaustively documented. One study in particular showed that while Adolph Hitler devoted only 7% of Mein Kampf to anti-jew text, fully 9.3% of the Islamic trilogy of the Koran, Sirah and Hadith fell into the same category. 8 Source: Center for the Study of Political Islam, Anti-Jew Text in Trilogy, accessed 6 Michael Curtis, Is Islamic Ideology Totalitarian?, Gatestone Institute, September 18, 2012, accessed 7 Curtis, Is Islamic Ideology Totalitarian?, accessed 8 Center for the Study of Political Islam, Anti-Jew Text in Trilogy, accessed 2

3 Third, Sharia is replete with examples of both doctrinal and historical of persecution on religious grounds. According to a 2011 study by Grim and Finke: a. Religious persecution is very much worse in Muslim-majority countries b. 62% of Muslim-majority countries have moderate to high levels of persecution c. Persecution of more than one thousand persons is present in 45 percent of Muslimmajority countries, compared to 11 percent of Christian-majority countries and 8 percent of countries where no single religion holds a majority d. Thirteen of the fourteen countries in [the worst] group are predominantly Muslim, and e. The cause of this is not ethnic or wealth-related; it stems from Muslim teachings and internal movements towards stricter Islam. 9 According to Kressel (2007), "the traditional sources of the Islamic faith - the Koran, the Sunna, the hadiths - provide crystal-clear justification for the entire program of militancy. 10 Finally, the Copenhagen Document mentions tolerance only three times. First, it states correctly that The participating States recognize that the questions relating to national minorities can only be satisfactorily resolved in a democratic political framework [that] guarantees full respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, equal rights and status for all citizens, the free expression of all their legitimate interests and aspirations, political pluralism, social tolerance and the implementation of legal rules that place effective restraints on the abuse of governmental power. 11 Thus though the Copenhagen document calls for tolerance, it does so specifically in the context of a democratic political framework to guarantee that tolerance. Moreover, soon thereafter, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found on July 31 st, 2001 less than two months before September 11, 2001 that "the institution of Sharia law and a theocratic regime, were incompatible with the requirements of a democratic society. 12 Thus the Copenhagen document must be read in the context not only of resolving questions relating to national minorities in a democratic political framework, but of the ECHR s finding that Sharia law is incompatible with such a framework. Second, the Copenhagen document refers to the important role of non-governmental organizations in the promotion of tolerance, cultural diversity and the resolution of questions relating to national 9 Brian J. Grim and Roger Finke, The Price of Freedom Denied: Religious Persecution and Conflict in the Twenty-First Century (New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, 2011), Persecution-Twenty-First/dp/ , accessed 10 See Neil Kressel, 2007, "Militant Islam: The Present Danger," chapter 2, pp ; accessed 11 COPENHAGEN DOCUMENT, 1990, p accessed 12 Press release issued by the Registrar, JUDGMENT IN THE CASE OF REFAH PARTISI (THE WELFARE PARTY) ERBAKAN, KAZAN AND TEKDAL v. TURKEY, July 31, 2001, F Strasbourg Cedex, ng/press/2001/july/refahpartisi2001jude.htm&date= , accessed 3

4 minorities. 13 Non-governmental organizations that favor the imposition of Sharia would be incompatible with a democratic framework and therefore excluded by law from the roster of groups included in the document s ambit. Third and finally, the Copenhagen Document called on Participating States to take effective measures, in conformity with their constitutional systems, at the national, regional and local levels to promote understanding and tolerance. 14 This is hardly a comprehensive framework for combatting racism, xenophobia and discrimination and the promotion of tolerance. 15 To use the Copenhagen Document as an excuse to shut down fundamental freedoms, to which it refers 21 times, 16 including especially free expression, to which it explicitly refers twice, 17 in order to protect advocates of Sharia, which the ECHR has held is incompatible with democracy, is a travesty that will cost human lives, and potentially shatter the foundations of European civilization in the process. Accordingly, the Center for Security Policy recommends that: 1. The OSCE HDIM 2017 should reiterate the commitment expressed by all Participating States in the Copenhagen Document to the ideals of democracy and political pluralism as well as their common determination to build democratic societies based on free elections and the rule of law The OSCE HDIM 2017 should echo ECHR in affirming that the institution of Sharia law is incompatible with the requirements of a democratic society The OSCE HDIM 2017 should restate its commitment to Copenhagen Document s commitment to fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression, which is being systematically impeded by Participating States in an effort to stifle criticism of Islam The OSCE HDIM 2017 should express concern over various Islamic scholars assertions that: a. Islam is a militant ideology and program which seeks to alter the social order of the whole world and rebuild it in conformity with its own Islamic tenets and ideals; b. Islamic Jihad would necessarily destroy non-islamic systems and would bring about a universal revolution; and 13 COPENHAGEN DOCUMENT, 1990, p accessed 14 Ibid. 15 OSCE HDIM 2017 Annotated Agenda, accessed September 13, COPENHAGEN DOCUMENT, 1990, count performed 17 COPENHAGEN DOCUMENT, 1990, pp. 3, accessed 18 Ibid. 19 JUDGMENT IN THE CASE OF REFAH PARTISI, July 31, 2001, ng/press/2001/july/refahpartisi2001jude.htm&date= , accessed 20 COPENHAGEN DOCUMENT, 1990, count performed 4

5 c. Non-Muslims could be tolerated but apostates could not on pain of death The OSCE HDIM 2017 should express serious concern that while Adolph Hitler devoted only 7% of Mein Kampf to anti-jew text, fully 9.3% of the Islamic trilogy of the Koran, Sirah and Hadith falls into the same category, according to a recent study The OSCE HDIM 2017 should express concern that according to another recent study: a. Religious persecution is very much worse in Muslim-majority countries b. 62% of Muslim-majority countries have moderate to high levels of persecution c. Persecution of more than one thousand persons is present in 45 percent of Muslimmajority countries, compared to 11 percent of Christian-majority countries and 8 percent of countries where no single religion holds a majority d. Thirteen of the fourteen countries in the worst group with respect to religious persecution are predominantly Muslim; and that e. The cause of this religious persecution is not ethnic or wealth-related but stems from Muslim teachings and internal movements towards stricter Islam The OSCE HDIM 2017 should express concern that according to another recent study, the traditional sources of the Islamic faith provide justification for the entire program of militancy experienced by Participating States today The OSCE HDIM 2017 should reiterate the Copenhapen Document s commitment against totalitarianism, anti-semitism, and persecution on religious grounds, 25 noting that the Islamic law known as Sharia mandates all three. 21 Curtis, Is Islamic Ideology Totalitarian?, accessed 22 Center for the Study of Political Islam, Anti-Jew Text in Trilogy, accessed 23 Grim and Finke, The Price of Freedom Denied; Twenty-First/dp/ , accessed 24 Kressel, 2007, "Militant Islam: The Present Danger," pp ; accessed 25 COPENHAGEN DOCUMENT, 1990, accessed 5